The Marfleet firm had played a lead role in the creation of the huge ‘Slipstream’ sculpture at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 2
The Commercial Systems International base in Marfleet.(Image: Google Streetview)
Jobs have been lost amid the collapse of a longstanding Hull construction products firm. Administrators were called in to Marfleet-based Commercial Systems International Ltd (CSI) earlier this week, with the company being wound down.
The move puts 28 people out of work, and brings to a close four decades of trading for the maker of cladding and glazing systems for the construction industry. CSI’s work has won a number of awards over the years, and has featured on high profile buildings such as the landmark Television Centre in West London and the striking ‘Slipstream’ sculpture in Heathrow’s Terminal 2.
Insolvency specialists from Interpath were called in by the directors amid delays and disputes linked to significant construction projects in recent months. They said the firm’s cash flow had taken a hit, and despite the efforts of bosses to resolve the issues and secure additional funding, they were unsuccessful.
Joint administrators James Lumb and Howard Smith from Interpath were appointed to the business on Wednesday. They have started winding the company down, including making redundancies.
James Lumb, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator, said: “CSI’s challenges reflect the significant pressures currently facing cladding specialists and indeed the wider construction sector, where wafer-thin margins, delays and disputes have become increasingly common and difficult to absorb. As we commence the process of winding-down the business, we will be doing all we can to support the Company’s employees who have been impacted by redundancy.”
CSI was launched in 1986 and had provided design, manufacturing and installation of glazing and cladding systems in the 40 years since. It had won various national awards for its work, which included bespoke façades and other complex structures.
The firm’s team of engineers built and installed the Slipstream sculpture in the rebuilt Heathrow Terminal 2. Designed by artist Richard Wilson, the aviation-inspired work measures 70m long, weighs 77 tonnes and is made up of 23 separate sections.
It was transported, piece-by-piece from CSI’s Hull workshops to Heathrow and installed to create a flowing, twisting aluminium structure that imagines the flight path of a stunt plane.
CSI sources about 500,000 components from suppliers in and around Hull for the precision work, which is now seen by millions of passengers every year. At the time of its installation between 2013 and 2014, Slipstream was said to be Europe’s largest privately funded sculpture.
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